NARUTO SHIPPUDEN - Sasori - Figure Kazekage Rescue Arc 23cm

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN – Sasori – Ichibansho MASTERLISE Kazekage Rescue Arc – 23 cm figure

The Ichibansho collection from Banpresto / Bandai Spirits features a figure measuring approximately 23 cm of Sasori, a member of Akatsuki and one of the main antagonists in the Kazekage Rescue Arc of Naruto Shippuden. Part of the MASTERLISE range, this figure features a large-scale, highly detailed sculpt, depicting the famous puppeteer from Suna in his human form.

Sasori is depicted standing, turned slightly to one side, with one arm outstretched forwards and his hand pointed, whilst his other arm remains partly concealed beneath his cloak. His short, tousled red hair, impassive gaze and cold expression capture the character’s aloof demeanour.

He wears the Akatsuki’s long black cloak, adorned with the iconic red clouds and lined with red on the inside. Its wide collar is turned up around his face, whilst his light-coloured trousers and shinobi sandals remain visible beneath the cloak. The deliberately understated pose emphasises the puppeteer’s characteristic confidence and control rather than a spectacular attack.

Standing 23 cm tall, this MASTERLISE figurine makes a striking display piece. It is designed to join the other characters in the Kazekage Rescue Arc collection, including Sakura Haruno, Gaara, Deidara, Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake. Banpresto describes MASTERLISE as one of Ichibansho’s premium ranges, characterised by larger-scale statues and a higher level of detail.

Technical specifications

• Manufacturer: Banpresto / Bandai Spirits

• Range / Collection: Ichibansho

• Series / Sculpture: MASTERLISE

• Themed collection: Kazekage Rescue Arc

• Licence: Naruto Shippuden

• Character: Sasori

• Organisation: Akatsuki

• Home village: Suna

• Type: pre-painted collectable figure

• Materials: PVC and ABS

• Height: approx. 23 cm

• Pose: standing, one arm outstretched forwards

• Articulation: none

• EAN: 4573102724182

• Supplier reference: IS72418

Character background and lore

Sasori, nicknamed Sasori of the Red Sand, is a former ninja from Suna who became a member of Akatsuki. A genius puppeteer, he has developed a unique philosophy of art: unlike Deidara, who values the fleeting beauty of an explosion, Sasori seeks eternal and unchanging beauty. This philosophy leads him to transform human beings into puppets capable of retaining the techniques they possessed whilst alive.

Among his most significant creations is the Third Kazekage, whom Sasori himself killed and then transformed into a human puppet. Notably, this puppet retains his Iron Shavings technique, which he used against Sakura and Chiyo during their confrontation in the Akatsuki hideout.

Sasori also took his art to the point of transforming his own body into a puppet, retaining only an organic core that allowed him to transfer his consciousness from one body to another. During his battle against Sakura and her grandmother Chiyo, he successively reveals Hiruko, the Third Kazekage, his own mechanical body, and then his ultimate technique, the Hundred Puppets Performance.

The clash is one of the key moments of the Kazekage Rescue arc. Sakura and Chiyo eventually manage to defeat Sasori using the puppets representing his own parents. Before dying, however, he passes on information to Sakura that enables her to track down Orochimaru and Sasuke, revealing that a part of his former humanity still remains behind his detached, mechanical façade.

This MASTERLISE figurine accurately depicts Sasori as he appears after the destruction of Hiruko: his youthful appearance contrasts with his reputation as a formidable puppeteer and with the transformations he has inflicted upon his own body in his quest for an art form he considers eternal.